PMO has ‘no record’ of Modi’s media interactions: RTI

Mumbai, The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) apparently has no records of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s media interactions for over four years, an RTI query revealed here on Friday.

Mumbai-based RTI activist Anil Galgali had posed the query on December 8, 2018, seeking full details of Modi’s media interactions, live interviews and press conferences since he came to power in 2014.

Galgali also asked for details of how many media representatives or media houses had requested for interviews or meetings, and those who were permitted to conduct live or recorded interviews.

“On January 7, a PMO Under Secretary Pravin Kumar gave a reply, promising to reply soon. But, for 68 days there was no response, so I filed the first appeal under RTI,” Galgali told IANS.

This time, Kumar promptly replied stating that Modi’s interactions with press representatives were “both structured and unstructured” and therefore, the information sought was not available on record, the RTI activist said.

“This is strange. The PMO is expected to reply immediately, but it adopted time consuming information to deliberately delay providing the required details. Even the information made available after the first appeal appears to be misleading and partial,” Galgali said.

“The PMO could have simply clarified whether a press conference was organized or not, instead of delaying the replies.”

According to the activist, the PMO has indirectly placed Modi in an embarrassing position by refusing to part with the information.